Illuminated handle for refrigerated cabinet doors



Patented `Iuly 7, 1953 ILLUMINATED HANDLE FOR REFRIGER- ATKED CABINETDOORS? John J. Voda, Evansville, Ind., assignor to Inter' nationalHarvester Company, a corporation of NewA Jersey Applicationoctober 28,1950, Serial No. 192,747

This invention relates generally to illuminating devicesand moreparticularly to illuminating de-v freezer cabinet is positioned in adark room or p basement. The horizontal type freezer cabinet, commonlytermed freezer chest, is usually provided ywith a horizontally disposeddoor which pivots upwardly in order to allow access to the storagecompartment. rSince the packages of food in many'instances will bestacked to the very top edge of the food storage compartment, ithas'been found that a desirable location for an illuminating lamp is inthe door. In this arrangement, the lamplwill not be covered ordainagedby the food packages and will illuminate the interior of thecabinet regardless of how high the food packages are stackedy. Y

An Vobject of the present invention is to provide a cabinet withilluminating means which will not be covered or damaged by articlesstored in the cabinet.

Another object of the invention is to position a lamp'on the door of acabinet which will illuminate the interior of the'cabinet when the dooris open. f

A further object of the invention is to provide a cabinet door with ahollow handle having a lamp secured therein, whereby the handle servesas a shieldand reflector for the lamp.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a cabinet with anilluminating device whichyis easily installed, requires few parts andcan be easily reached for servicing.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be appreciated bythose skilled in the art as the invention becomes better understood byreference to the following description when considered in connectionwith the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view of a horizontal type refrigeratedcabinet in which the invention -is incorporated.

Fig. 2 is a rear elevational view of thedoor handle and illuminatingmeans taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1. I

Z Claims. (Cl. 24U- 4) Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the lhandle andilluminating means taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2.v

Referring to the drawings for a detailed description of the invention, afreezer chest is represented generally by reference number I0. Thecabinet I0 comprises a decorative or outer shell II mounted upon a, baseI2. Spaced within the outer shell is an inner liner I3, the walls ofwhich enclose a food storage compartment `I4 having an open top whichprovides access thereto. Insulating material I5 fills the space betweenthe outer shell II and inner liner I3 in order to reduceheat transfertherebetween. An evaporator coil 44 is wrapped around the inner liner I3and secured thereto by clamp member 45. Refrigr erant is passed throughevaporator coil 44 which cools the walls of the inner liner I3 andmaintains the temperature of the food storage com-A partment I4 atapproximately 0 F. y

A door I6 is secured to the back ofthe cabinet by hinges I9. Door I Ecomprises an inner door panel l1 secured to an outer door pan I8 withinsulation I9 therebetween. A rubber gasket 20 is positioned around thelperiphery of the door which seals around the food compartmentvl4 whenthe door I6 is horizontally disposed. A handle 2| is secured to thefront edge 48 of. the door I6. yIn opening the door I6, the operator maygrasp the lower edge 22 of the handle and swing the door upwardly untilit reaches a sub'- stantially vertical position. With the door in thisposition, the operator will have easy access to the foodstoragecompartment I4 and may reach therein and remove any itemtherefrom. The l' handle 2i maybe provided with latching means, ifneeded, and the door may be equipped with counterbalancing means. f

The handle 2I is substantially rectangularly I mounting screws extendand vsecure the handlel 2| to the front edge 48 of ther door I6.

A horizontally disposed rib 4l is formed on thek back side of frontportion 23 which extends between rib portion 28 and side 25.v The rib 41is provided with a circular shaped slot 46 into which a rubber encasedelectric lamp socket 33 is secured. The socket -33 is provided with anannular groove 34 bordered on each side by annular rib 35 and annularrib 36. The annular groove 34 iits into circular slot 46 and the annularribs 35 and 36 grip the rib 41 and hold the socket 33 securely in place.

An electric cord 31 supplies current to the socket 33 and an elongatedelectric lamp 38 fits in said socket and extends vertically between rib28 and side 25. A slot 43 is provided in the upper portion of rib 28through which the cord 31 passes and is connected to an electric switch39. The electric switch is one of the many types on the market todaywhich has a spring pressed plunger 40 for making and breaking thecircuit or, if desired, may be a mercury switch which is operated by themovement of the door. The switch is secured to the handle 2I- by screws4I with the plunger 40 extending toward the cabinet I0. An electric cord42 connects the switch 39 to a suitable electric supply source.

When the door I6 is in the horizontal or closed position as shown inFig. 3, the plunger 40 will contact the outer shell II and be forcedinwardly which opens the switch contacts and breaks the circuit to thelamp 38. As the door I6 is swung upwardly to open position as shown inFig. l, the plunger 40 will clear the outer shell II and the springpressed plunger will automatically move outwardly. The switch contactswill be closed and the circuit to lamp 38 will be completed.

A substantial portion of handle 2l extends below theinner door panel I1.Lamp 38 is positioned in relation to the door so that it also extendsbelow the inner door panel I1. The rear side of the handle 2I ispolished to a high luster or painted a light color in order that it willact as a reector and direct the rays of light from electric lamp 38 intothe food storage compartment I4. Since the front portion 23 of handleI2| extends below lamp 38, it willv also act as a shield for protectingthe lamp 38 and for preventing the light rays emitted by the lamp fromstriking the operators eyes.

FromV the foregoing it will be apparent that an illuminating device isprovided which automatically illuminates the food storage compartment I4when the door I6 is opened. The structure requires few parts and iseconomical since the door handle 2I is utilized to act as a shield andreflector for the bulb,38 which eliminates the necessity for a separateshield and refiector. The food storage compartment I4 can be completelyfilled with food and still be adequately illuminated by the electriclamp38. With the lamp 38 and switch 39 positioned in the handle 2|, accessto both is provided when the door I6 is open, which provides a structurewhich is easy to assemble and can be easily reached for servicing.

In the illustrated embodiment, the illuminating device is shownincorporated in a freezer chest. Since the device is applicable toreceptacles of Various kinds, it is not intended that it be limited touse with a freezerv chest. It is to be understood that numerous changesand modications may be made in the form, construction and arrangementsof elements embodying my invention, and therefore, the forms thereofshown in the drawings and described above are intended to beillustrative and are not intended to limit the scope of the Vfollowingclaims.

What is claimed is:

1. In combination with a door pivotally secured to a refrigeratedcabinet, a handle having a curved front wall and a first end wall and asecond end wall which extend substantially perpendicular to said frontwall, strengthening ribs formed on the rear side of said front portionbetween said end walls, a mounting rib extending between said first endwall and one of said strengthening ribs, said mounting rib beingprovided with a slot, an electric socket having a groove therein whichis received by said slot, an elongated lamp secured in said socket andpositioned between said first end wall and said strengthening ribs, anda mounting plate fastened to said front portion between saidstrengthening ribs, said handle being secured by said mounting plate tothe front edge of said door with said lamp and front portion extendingpast the inner surface of said door, said handle acting as a shield andreflector whereby the rays of light'from the lamp are directed into theinterior of the cabinet.

2. In combination'with a` door pivotally secured to a refrigeratedcabinet, a handle having a curved front wall anda first end wall and asecond end wall which extend substantially perpendicular to said frontwall, strengthening ribs formed on the rear side of said front portionbetween said end walls, a mounting rib extending between said first endwall and one of said strengthening ribs, said mounting rib beingprovided with a slot, an electric socket having a groove therein whichis received -by said slot, an elongated lamp secured in said socket andpositioned between said first end wall and. said strengthening ribs, amounting plate fastened to said front portion betweensaid strengtheningribs, said handle being secured by said mounting plate. to the frontedge of said door with said lamp and front portion extending past theinner surface of said door, said handle acting as a shield and reflectorwhereby the rays of light from the lamp are directed into the interiorof the cabinet, and an electric switch fastened to the rear side ofsaid'front portion which closes a circuit to said lamp when the door isopened and opens said circuit when the door is closed.

JOHN J. VODA.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 1,189,592 Lutz July 4, 1916 2,258,541 Cressaty Oct. 7, 19412,400,974 Berman May 28, 1946 2,468,640 Santilli Apr. 26, 1949 2,554,603Terlinde May 29, 1951

